Seahawks Finally Bring it Home

Still euphoric.

Vindication.

Years of demeaning trash talk by the national sports commentators who are now forced to eat their words (with the exception of Howie Long and Michael Strahan, 'cause defensive players know what's up).  I love seeing them finally have to admit that it wasn't just about Denver not showing up - it's that the Seahawks showed up as a well-oiled machine (in every way) and took Denver behind the shed for a beating. 

Those of us who have followed the Seahawks through lackluster seasons but have seen the reconstruction of a great franchise under Allen, Carroll and Schneider knew what was up.  I get that unless you live here you don't truly appreciate the significance of what it means to the region. It's easy to dismiss a team with a lackluster history prior to the 2002 conference switch (into a division they would own to this day).  It's easy to dismiss an entire region because they don't represent an east coast media market.

But the stats don't lie, and the Hawks' performance last night was living proof that defense wins championships.  Manning is one of the best QBs to play the game, but no matter how good, quarterbacks don't single-handedly win games, especially when rattled.  And in both the preseason rout and the Super Bowl, it's clear that he's not used to what the current NFC West - and specifically the Seahawks - bring against him.  That said, the man is a class act.  One of the first things he did after the game was go to Richard Sherman and inquire after his injury.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the next few seasons shake out.  With competition hot and heavy between Seattle and San Francisco, it will only raise everyone's game in the NFC West - and continue our division's dominance nationally.

For now, I'm just savoring the collective joy exuded by my adopted hometown (where I've now lived half my life), and breathing a sigh of relief that the team we've invested so much time, energy, faith and money in executed their objective as expertly (and more so) as any in the game - and who do so much off the field for their fans, community and region. 

Well done, Seattle Seahawks!  Way to bring the Lombardi home.

Pre-Season Begins!

Blogger has a scheduled outage coming up this afternoon, so I need to get this up real quick...

Yeah, I know it's not the first game of the pre-season, but it's the first pre-season game for our Seattle lads. Like many kids growing up in the Bay Area in the '70s, I was raised on the Raiders and 49ers, and went to my share of games at the Oakland Colosseum and Candlestick Park, followed the winning record of the mid-'70s/early-'80s Raiders, and then continued on with the golden age of Joe Montana's 49ers. I even went out for High School football at Aptos, and briefly became a Li'l Vike mascot for the Palo Alto Vikings.

Then I moved to Seattle, home of the Seahawks, longtime rival of the Raiders. Or as "longtime" as the relatively new Seahawks actually went back (which is, I believe, 1974). I felt like a double agent. It was years before I felt comfortable enough to truly cheer the home team. But a couple things made it easier: 1) the Raiders became a shadow of their former selves; 2) Raiders fans (who I'll grant you have always had a "boisterous" reputation) became out and out hooligans.

And about 10 years ago, I finally got comfortable and avid enough as a Washingtonian and Seattleite to root for the Seahawks with a clear conscience. About 4 years ago when we still had Grant Wistrom, he and his foundation worked with Gilda's Club, and we would often get tickets to Hawks games at Qwest Field. The Hawks are generally engaged with the community and many of the players and staff are involved in a multitude of charities. And in 2005, they proved to be not only the best team in the NFL, but much better sportsmen than the team that was handed the Superbowl.

So while my particular wheelhouse of geekery is not the brand of fanatic who memorizes stats and plays fantasy football, I am a Roman spectator at heart. I love myself a good bloodsport, and American football is among the most violent recreational war simulations still played. It's good, wholesome, uniquely American violence, and I can't say I don't get a visceral thrill from watching. Just like those few NASCAR fans who aren't in denial and admit the reason they watch is for the crashes.

And now, I'm dating a woman who is probably more fanatical than I ever was about football in my teens and twenties. Which is really mind boggling, because Sam was also a pretty avid football fan (49ers all the way), and that's relatively uncommon. How cool is that??

So, with the Hawks about to face off against the Vikes (sorry, Mike Berg, I love ya, but I gotta support my boys), I have my screening room set up to watch the game in 80-inch wide glory, food ready to go, pizza on order, friends jumping in to cheer with us. I have my Hasselbeck jersey and Kayleigh is already in hers (plus, her new Build-a-Bear is wearing a Hawks sweatshirt and will apparently be watching with us). Even the weather was a bit overcast and cooler today - almost a bit autumn-ish.

Time to go finish cleaning up.

Go Hawks!